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2 February, 2026The management of a Chinese-owned gold mine in Zimbabwe is facing legal action from the union after subjecting female workers to mandatory HIV testing before summarily dismissing them. The union describes the management’s actions as a flagrant breach of national laws on privacy, equality and non-discrimination.
At Xiao Honguqiu’s Famona gold mine, three women workers were compelled to undergo HIV tests and subsequently dismissed on 22 December 2025, regardless of the results, while more than 60 male colleagues faced no such requirement. The Zimbabwe Diamond and Allied Minerals Workers Union (ZDAMWU), an IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, condemned the practice as a form of sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination.
Zimbabwe’s Constitution and labour legislation safeguard workers’ dignity, equality before the law and protection from gender discrimination. The right to privacy, including the confidentiality of health information such as HIV status, is similarly enshrined. Employers are expressly barred from forcing disclosure of HIV status. The 2021 Cyber and Data Protection Act further criminalises unauthorised disclosure of personal health data by third parties, including online.
The dismissals reportedly followed information obtained from an online platform that exposed one worker’s HIV status. The affected worker has filed a police report at Nyathi Police Station near Bulawayo against the individual responsible for the posting. ZDAMWU has lodged a formal complaint with the Zimbabwe Gender Commission, which is now investigating the matter and weighing potential legal action against the company.
Justice Chinhema, ZDAMWU general secretary, asserted that the union is pressing for the reinstatement of the three women.
“It is unacceptable for employers to subject women to sexual harassment and flout the law with impunity,”
he said.
IndustriALL Sub-Saharan Africa regional secretary for Paule-France Ndessomin, said:
“We back ZDAMWU in seeking justice for these workers. Chinese multinational companies operating in Zimbabwe and the region must adhere to national labour laws and international standards.”
IndustriALL’s research under the project: Towards an inclusive and sustainable future for workers in Eastern and Southern Africa with the University of the Witwatersrand’s Southern Centre for Inequality Studies titled Fighting back: Labour fragmentation in and the face of capital vis-à-vis the Just Transition and eco-socialism has confirmed rampant sexual harassment and exploitation on Chinese-owned mines in Zimbabwe with supervisors preferring to hire “small Maria” instead of “big Maria.”
“Chinese management in both Zambia and Zimbabwe wanted a “small Maria” – a black female worker who was small built. The management used their positions and fear of job insecurity to exert pressure and solicit sexual favours or rape women workers. Black women workers in Zimbabwe who were employed in the mining sector, barely faced victimization and harassment,” exposes the research in its findings which will be published in April.